Soon after the founding, the Hagenbeck Zoo in Hamburg, Germany donated polar bears, hippos, zebras, nilgai antelopes, penguins, and numerous monkeys before the official opening came on June 9. Within the next 6 months, giraffes had arrived from Africa and 4 elephants had been acquired from a local circus.
2007: Anula (11 years) and Kosala (8 years) were brought to the Higashiyama zoo in 2007 from the Pinnawela Orphanage in Sri Lanka.